At the beginning of the season the Washington Capitals, with a stat of 6-14-1, fired Coach Glen Hanlon. They replaced him with Coach Bruce Bourdreau on Thanksgiving Day 2007. He was formerly the coach for the Hershey Bears. The Capitals also signed Ovechkin for a 13 year contract, the second longest contract in NHL. Regardless of any injuries or problems they had this year, they pulled through and won the Southeast Division title for the first time since 2000/2001 season. They won 11 out of 12 final season games. After the season ended, Bourdrea was given a long term contract.
Now that this season is over it’s time to get ready for the 2008/2009 season. There have been some changes in the team roster. Washington traded number 23 and 54 for Anton Gustafson from Sweden. Also, traded were number 84 Steve Eminger defenseman, for John Carlson of Philadelphia, number 27. They also chose 7 more players, Eric Mestery, defenseman, Dmitri Kugryshev, right wing Braden Holtby, goaltender, Joel Broda center; Greg Burke, left winger and Stefan Della Rovere forward.
Now that they have their new team roster it’s time for training camp. Training camp starts Saturday September 20th. But for the rookies it will start a week early. During this time the public can come and watch free of charge. The camp takes place at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia. Training camp will end with a game against the Flyers.
